Category: standardized testing

“So You Don’t Have To”: A Visit to American University

“So You Don’t Have To”: A Visit to American University

In early November I had the chance to visit American University. This was actually the second time I’ve toured American, the previous time being in the summer of 2007 (years before I started this blog), which makes this the first in this series that sees me revisiting a school. I’ve been recommending American to students […]

A College Counselor’s Thoughts On ACT Academy

A College Counselor’s Thoughts On ACT Academy

As you may know if you’ve visited this blog in the past, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am a former college counselor and now work for Method Test Prep, a company that partners with over 1,000 schools, community organizations and independent counselors to help students prepare for the ACT and SAT. My […]

“So You Don’t Have To”: A Visit to Duke University

“So You Don’t Have To”: A Visit to Duke University

It’s been a long time since I was able to visit a college! Last summer my wife and I bought a new house and moving and getting settled pretty much consumed my free time for the last six months. But things are calming down, and I expect to be able to do a few more […]

What I Saw At NACAC 2017: A Summary Of “Testing Achievement and the Future of College Admission”

What I Saw At NACAC 2017: A Summary Of “Testing Achievement and the Future of College Admission”

  I attended the 2017 National Association for College Admission Counseling conference in Boston in mid-September. This was the third straight year I’ve been able to attend, thanks to my day job with Method Test Prep, a leading ACT/SAT preparation company. I spoke to lots of people (old friends, customers, colleagues) and the consensus seems to […]

I Keep Going To College Board Presentations: SAT/PSAT Status Report Spring 2017

As a former college counselor and current representative for Method Test Prep (a company that works with over 1,000 schools nationwide to help students prepare for the SAT and ACT) I have a strong interest in changes to standardized testing for college admissions. Whenever I attend a national or regional conference where the College Board […]

NACAC 2016: Observations On Presentations About the SAT and ACT

Every year in September the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has its annual conference. NACAC is a great organization made up of high school counselors, independent educational consultants and college and university admission officers and I’m proud to have been a member for years. Along with 6,000 other professionals I attended this year’s […]

“So You Don’t Have To”: A Visit to Rollins College

At the end of June I visited Rollins College during a trip to central Florida. I had been peripherally aware of Rollins for years, but only in the sense that I knew it was well regarded for the beauty of its campus and that it often appeared on “best of the South” ratings lists. Having moved […]

I Went To Another College Board Presentation About The New SAT…

Back in September, I attended the College Board‘s Annual Counselor Workshop at the University of Richmond. You can read about the session in detail in the post I wrote at the time, but the simple summary was that they gave a very detailed description of the new SAT/PSAT, but seemed a little unprepared for the […]

If I Can’t Understand The Score, What’s The Point Of The Test?

  2016 is shaping up to be an exciting year in the field of standardized tests for college admissions. The list of “test optional” colleges and universities is bound to grow, President Obama has joined the clamor deriding “test prep” in schools, and both national admissions testing organizations–the ACT and the SAT— have instituted changes […]

I Went To The College Board Counselor Workshop 2015 And Here’s What I Think

On September 17th I attended the CollegeBoard‘s 2015 Counselor Workshop at the University of Richmond. I was eager to go for several reasons; partly because I’d never been to one before (my last school was located a bit off the beaten path), partly because the University of Richmond has one of the most beautiful college campuses […]